DREAM 11 took place this morning (for U.S. fans), and two new Champions were crowned during the event.
In the night's co-main event, Shinya Aoki submitted Joachim Hansen with very little time remaining to claim the DREAM Lightweight Title. It was a rubber match between the two, and Hansen's first fight since defeating Aoki in the finals of the Lightweight Grand Prix last summer.
Aoki was nearly knocked out by a series of upkicks from Hansen in the first round, but controversy would ensue as replays showed the first kick was low and Aoki was allowed five full minutes to recover. Aoki spent much of the fight in an active Hansen guard, and with time ticking off the clock he managed to get to mount, grab an arm and, after some struggle from Hansen, wrench it to force the submission.
The night's other big winner was Bibiano Fernandes, who picked up two victories to close out the Featherweight Grand Prix and become the first DREAM Featherweight Champion. First up was the favorite coming into the event, Joe Warren. Fernandes popped up for an armbar with Warren raining down punches and pulled it tight. The ref stopped the fight to the protest of Warren, but replays showed a slight tap from Warren, and the arm was gone had it not been stopped.
Fernandes followed that up with a split decision in the final bout of the evening over Hiroyuki Takaya to capture the Title.
Also on this card was the semifinals of the "Super Hulk" tournament, and the final was set up for a later event. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou handled Bob Sapp fairly quickly in the first round and then Ikuhisa Minowa, a nearly 130 lb. lighter fighter than opponent Hong Man Choi, withstood some damage from Choi only to pull out a heel hook submission in the second round. Full results from the event are below:
-Bibiano Fernandes def. Hiroyuki Takaya via split decision
-Shinya Aoki def. Joachim Hansen via submission (armbar) in the second round
-Kazushi Sakuraba def. Rubin Williams via submission (kimura) in the first round
-Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Melchor Manibusan via TKO in the first round
-Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def. Bob Sapp via TKO in the first round
-Ikuhisa Minowa def. Hong Man Choi via submission (heel hook) in the second round
-Bibiano Fernandes def. Joe Warren via submission (armbar) in the first round
-Hiroyuki Takaya def. Hideo Tokoro via TKO (punches) in the first round
-Kazuyuki Miyata def. Daiki Hata via unanimous decision
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